HEALTH

How to make a sick child eat

Can't get your sick baby to chow down? Here are some tips.

Anybody who has been around children will realize how difficult it is to get them through a day with decent nutritious food, let alone when they are sick, feverish and in no mood to oblige! However hard the battle, it’s very important that their diet be completely able to sustain them though the sickly days without dehydration or protein malnutrition. Here we discuss the strategy on how to get the ammunition (read nutritious food) bang on target!

The prime objective is to make the food more interesting so as to perk up their appetites. Towards that end make an effort with our tips, which have been tried and tested:

1. Present the child with a drink in a glass which is normally reserved for adults. Yeah….the crystal comes out honey!

2. For the sake of novelty you could also try giving drinks in a tequila/any tiny glass or even an egg cup. Fun is the key word here!

3. Dilute the fresh juices with soda/fizzy water to camouflage them into aerated beverages.

4. Use an eye catching straw such as a curly or bendy one, cocktail stirring spoons, fancy umbrella the works to decorate the drinks.

5. If milk is no-no, transform it into a milkshake. For added taste add ice cream and a drop of vanilla essence (we recommend this yummy treat!)

6. Try not serve the same drinks continuously. Vary the drinks as much as possible (Check our article ‘diet for sick children’ for options.)

7. As far as food is concerned, try giving small meals more often rather than restricting it to three meals a day.

8. When possible give the child his favourite foods.

9. Scolding the child for not eating is not a good idea. She will eat as soon as she gets better.